Whooshh Innovations is a Seattle based company that specializes in transporting fish. We do not mean transporting frozen fish in a semi truck, but instead, in figuring out a way for migratory fish to reach their natural spawning grounds on rivers that have dams. Hydropower through dams is a clean source for renewable energy which means they are not going to be removing too many of them soon. Whooshh Innovations has been working on ways for dams and wild salmon and steelhead to coexist. Solutions like “Fish Ladders” are not always effective and exhausting on the fish, while trapping fish and moving them via truck or even helicopters is not economical. Their solution? The Fish Tube. An innovative concept to safely move fish over dams using a pressured tube (similar to a siphon in your 8th grade science class). This tube transport system offers a significantly more affordable solution to fish ladders and is much less stressful on the fish. Also, the fish move through the tube one at a time which gives us the opportunity to remove non native or hatchery fish if desired. Check out the video below!

Note: If you’re viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to see the video on our website.

Whether this ends up being a viable solution or not. We are intrigued by their end goal of figuring out a way for dams to remain in place while restoring native migratory fish. Reconnecting these fish with their natural spawning grounds, despite a dam separating them, is a problem that requires a creative solution. Could this be it? We are all for opening up these runs of native fish! For more information on Whoosh Innovation, check out their website here.

Now is the time to chase that fish of a lifetime on our home river, the Naknek. One of the best spots on the planet to target a 30” wild rainbow trout is in the fall on the Rapids stretch of the Naknek River. Our lodge, Rapids Camp, is appropriately named as it offers us prime access to the Rapids and the angry, behemoth sized rainbow trout that inhabit it. Our favorite way to target these fish is with a two handed rod. This allows us to efficiently cover water on this large, difficult to wade river. Anyone who has fished the Naknek has their own, “go to” set up that they swear by. A confidence rig if you will. Liz Fincher, who is a guide and operations manager with her partner Max at RCL, was kind enough to share with us hers. If she has a miraculous day (or even hour off) to fish the Nak in the month of September, here is what she picks for her weapon.

Rod: ECHO DH II 12’9″ 6.5 wt.

Line: RIO Skagit Max 450 Gr. 10′ of T-14 (depending on water levels)

Leader: 4’ Maxima UltraGreen

Fly: A little good juju fly…guess you got to fish with her to get all her secrets 🙂

The incredible ecosystem that is Bristol Bay Alaska had another record breaking year in terms of salmon numbers. According to KDLG, 56.3 million salmon returned to Bristol Bay in 2019. The commercial harvest was the second largest ever at 43 million fish. The total run for the Bay was 33% higher than they forecasted giving Bristol Bay its 6th largest run of all time and its 5th consecutive year with a run over 50 million fish. An ecosystem as special this, sure deserves some protection don’t you think? For more information about run numbers in specific watersheds, check out the full article here. If you want to get involved in protecting this area so that the salmon can continue to provide for the people of the region and worldwide, reach out here.

]]>https://www.deneki.com/2019/09/bristol-bay-fisheries-report/feed/019457Streamer Fishing Tipshttps://www.deneki.com/2019/09/streamer-fishing-tips/
https://www.deneki.com/2019/09/streamer-fishing-tips/#respondTue, 10 Sep 2019 13:00:14 +0000https://www.deneki.com/?p=19453Want to land some of these this fall? Follow the advice below! Photo: Danny Frank

Following up on last week’s post covering different streamer fishing techniques, here are some specific tips to help you get the most out of your time fishing streamers this fall.

Keep your rod tip low when retrieving. This will help keep your fly deep. No fish wants to see its pretty swimming up towards the surface. When baitfish are fleeing, they stay deep. I will often keep me rod tip in the water as I strip the fly back.

Put a split shot in front of your fly. Following up with the previous point, to maximize your success when streamer fishing, you need to keep your flies deep. Many of my best streamer eats come in fast water right after the flies land. Here a sink tip won’t do you any good as you need to get your flies down quick. To achieve this, I will put a large 3/0 split shot directly ahead of my streamer. This will get your fly in the zone quickly after it lands.

Know when to fish a sink tip vs heavy fly. They both have a time and a place. Check out our previous write up on this here.

When banging the banks from the boat, pick your spots in advanced. You want to land your flies just before the likely holding water so that you don’t spook the fish and that your flies have time to sink.

Rope up! If a fish is going to eat a streamer, he is going to eat it. No point in using light line. Depending on the river I am fishing, I don’t go smaller than 12lbs and will often use 15 or even 20 lbs!

Famous musician or weekend warrior, in this country you need to have a current fishing license for the state you are fishing in. Last weekend, there was a three day music festival in Buena Vista Colorado that featured country music stars Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan. When in Colorado, they did what Coloradans do and enjoyed a little fly fishing. Unfortunately, they forgot to purchase a Colorado fishing license. When Bentley posted a photo to social media with him holding a fish, Colorado Parks and Wildlife had all the proof they needed to issue a citation and a $139.50 fine. Bryan never posted any photos so CPW does not have any evidence that he fished without a license. According to CPW, Bentley was very apologetic and after the event tweeted “Actually appreciate the ticket. Appreciate being treated like a regular person. Appreciate what CO Parks and Wildlife does. I’ll be all licensed up next time!”

According to WideOpenSpaces, revenue generated by hunting and fishing licenses equates to more than 1 Billion dollars a year nationally. Of this money, 100% of the fee’s go to conservation, fisheries management and wildlife restoration. License fee’s by law, cannot be used for any other purposes. I like to believe that most people who fish without a license do so because they forgot, and not for any malicious reason. Regardless, remember when fishing, always have a current license for the state you are in.

As I am sure you have heard, Hurricane Dorian, a high class 5 storm at the time, spent a day terrorizing the Bahamian Island’s of Abaco and Grand Bahama. Liz Fincher, who along with her partner Max Pushak, manage our lodge Andros South and have grown incredibly close with the loving Bahamian people. They put together the following message to try and generate some support.

“Hurricane Dorian set her sights on the Bahamas this week and has caused massive destruction. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected. Our immediate Andros South family was able to stay safe during the storm. The lodge experienced some winds and rain, but luckily no structural damage. We appreciate all of you reaching out to check on us. Unfortunately, others were not able to stay out of harm’s way. We have lost loved ones in Abaco, as well as Grand Bahama. Our friends at Abaco Lodge lost everything. They are still waiting to hear from all of their staff members, as communication is almost non-existent. The death toll will continue to rise as the rescue efforts continue. We will be working with different organizations to assist with the aid in any way we can. There are numerous efforts underway to help those affected the most. Below are links to a couple of those organizations. Please feel free to reach out to me at lizf@deneki.com with any questions.

Abaco Lodge – A GoFundMe to support the Abaco Lodge family and staff who lost everything. Funds will also go towards community rebuilding.

Potcake Rescues – Our dog-rescue friends who re-homed potcakes from Andros South this past winter are flying their planes to and from Abaco & Grand Bahama to continue rescuing animals in addition to donating supplies. E-mail Liz Fincher at lizf@deneki.com for more information on this.

As the weeks go on, please don’t forget about the Bahamas. This wound will take a long time to heal. With the natural strength of the people & culture of the Bahamas and your help, we can only hope to speed up the recovery. Many thanks.” -Liz Fincher

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Jack is Back! “Fall steelhead is coming up faster than some of us would like to admit. To prep, we’ll be running a nice skater-pattern for low and clear conditions. Today’s fly was requested by one of our readers. So, I’ll take this opportunity to remind everyone to send in tutorial requests for any flies that have captured your interest or that have been giving you some trouble at the vise. Developed by Tom Larimer for the Deschutes and Klickitat rivers, this ultra-buoyant chernobyl variation absolutely deserves a spot in your box. It goes without saying for this style of fly, but when stoneflies are present, or the light dims in the evening, the Fighting Gravity will more than hold its own on your local trout stream as well. Play with color as you see fit, but remember that, as with any skater, presentation and motion outfishes the perfect shade of brown any day.” – The Jack Reis

In my opinion, fishing streamers is one of the most fun ways to catch trout. I love how voracious and un-trout like they act. Usually when trout fishing (outside of Alaska), the current is bringing our flies to the fish. When streamer fishing it is the opposite, we are triggering something aggressive inside the trout causing them to try and attack our flies with an attitude that most people do not associate with the species. Fall is known as one of the better times of year to fish a streamer as the already aggressive Brown Trout, become more territorial before they spawn. You also have Rainbows looking to fatten up before the winter so they are willing to chase down a bigger meal. Here are 3 of the most productive ways to fish streamers this fall.

Banging the Banks – The best way to do this if from a drift boat or raft. You are effectively covering water, targeting the most aggressive fish. The boat is in the middle of the river and the anglers are casting towards the banks. The closer you can land your flies to the bank the better. Then start retrieving your fly back towards you. Some days the fish want slow short strips, some days aggressive fast ones. Vary up your retrieve just as much as you vary up your fly selection.

Swinging – Not just a technique for Salmon or Steelhead. Regardless of the species, swinging flies is an incredibly effective way to cover water. You want to cast straight across the current or slightly down stream, throw a big mend to help your flies sink, then let your flies swing through the likely holding water. With trout especially, it is a good idea to not only let your fly swing all the way through to the hang down, but to give it a couple of strips after it is done swinging. Often times I have found rainbows will eat during the swing or right at the end and browns eat more after the swing and on the strip back in.

Striphing – I did just make this word up and its definition is 1/2 stripping, 1/2 nymphing. This is ideal for the walk and wade streamer fisherman and the perfect way to dissect pocket water. There is no wrong way to fish a streamer as long as the fly is moving. With this method I let the current push the flies around while giving it occasional twitches with the rod tip or short quick strips to provide additional movement. This can be a deadly technique in the fast pocket water as it allows the flies to get down deep, then triggers the eat with the quick movement.

Casting short of a fish is better than casting past it. If you see a big fish cruising and you are trying to get your flies in front of it, a shorter cast is often more effective than casting far. If your cast is too long, you risk the fish seeing your line. Even if you quickly strip your line in so that the fly is directly inline with the direction the fish is heading, he could of seen or felt your line land on the water. If you cast short so that the flies land on the near side, you won’t risk lining the fish. You might be convinced that your cast is too short but wait until the fish is close and start to move it. Bonefish have great eyesight and odds are he saw it and will follow.

Always strip away from the fish. This comes back to the predator/prey relationship. The predator (aka the Bonefish) is used to seeing its prey (the shrimp) move away from him. If you strip in a direction that moves the fly towards the fish, often times it will cause the fish to spook. This is pretty much a guarantee to spook the 10 pound fish of a lifetime that you will more than likely get a shot at, at Andros South.

Always release the fish in a direction away from where the boat is drifting. Often times we are polling or drifting long distances over a large flat. If the boat is drifting west to east, you want to release your fish off the west side of the boat. Try and avoid releasing your fish in the direction that you are heading. A recently release bonefish may act funny and if his friends see that, it can cause them to be extra wary or even leave the flat. This may sound extreme but when some of the best flats guides in the world tell you to do something, you listen!

We wanted to wish all of our friends and loyal readers a very happy Labor Day. Today is a day dedicated to the American labor movement and the working people. We wanted to take a moment on this federally recognized holiday to thank all of the hard working people involved with Deneki Outdoors. This includes our talented guides, operation managers, lodge staff members, and you, our incredible guests. We cannot live this life that we love without your hard work and support! We hope you enjoy this day away from the office, whether it is on the river or at a parade or barbecue. Thank you again and as always, please do not hesitate with any questions or feedback for us!